An airborne defense system against ground-to-air missiles aimed at civilian aircraft recently passed a test at Palmahim, on Israel's Mediterranean shore.
The system, dubbed FlightGuard, is being jointly produced by Israel Aircraft Industries and Israel Military Industries. It is slated to be installed on El Al (TASE: ELAL ) passenger jets.
The two companies have sold marketing rights to an American firm, Aviation Protection Systems, which has Israeli and American investors. The company bought two passenger planes earmarked for demonstrations for the Federal Aviation Authority in an effort to win approval for the products.
The recent test was supervised by the air force and involved a Boeing 737 owned by Elta, an IAI company, on which the three main elements of the system were mounted: the radar, a control center and special infrared flares, which are invisible to the naked eye.
The Elta-made radar spotted the Strella SA7 missile the moment it was launched - though it was a virtual missile launch - and the control system launched the flares. The virtual missiles chased after the flares as they flew away from the plane, which continued on its flight path.
A similar system involving ordinary visible flares has long been used by air forces to protect cargo planes and helicopters, but because ordinary flares cause explosions and bright lights, the FAA is not eager to have them put into use at civilian airports.